Jim Taylor | COMPLETED

Chapter four - "Daddy"

Sarah held the Leslie against her chest. Hoping he'll fall asleep soon. It was about to be a long day.

Hours passed. There was no new information about Jim's situation. Sarah called herself and Leslie a taxi, so she could tuck him into bed. Peter, though, decided to stay. He took a short nap on the stiff chair in the hospital. Suddenly, he was wakened up by Jim's doctor.

"Sir, " Doctor said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I must have fallen asleep here. What's up?" Peter rubbed his eyes. The doctor smiled softly at him.

"It's Jim. You can go and see him. He's a patient in room 40," Doctor nodded. Peter stood up and followed Doctor at the end of a hallway. They stopped at one door, where it said: "Rehabilitation | Room nr 40".

Peter opened the door slowly like he was knowing Jim was sleeping. The room was furnished with light bed sheets and light-colored table. Different sea-viewed portraits were for the decorations on the wall. The red furry carpet was lying on the floor. Besides, Peter saw one medium-sized window with light yellow curtains.

He slowly walked towards the bed, where Jim was sleeping. His face was pointed to the window. The sunlight didn't disturb him; he was in deep sleep. Peter sat on the edge of the bed. Now he saw how his little boy looked like. Bruises on his cheeks, forehead and under his left eye. Jim's lower lip was swollen. Who ever did this to his son, is going to pay the price soon.

Looking at Jim's hands that lied on the blanket, Peter saw other bruises on them. His nails were still bloody.

"Jim... It's your daddy. Wake up," Peter whispered. "Jimmy?"

Jim opened his eyes slowly. Turned his face to Peter, frowning.

"Hey, buddy. Can you hear me? I'm your daddy, sweetheart," Peter smiled. Even though Jim was in pain, he still had grown up into a beautiful little child.

"Daddy?" Jim asked.

"Yes, Jimmy. It's me," Peter smiled widely. His son's face was serious, though.

"No, don't do this. Stop!" Jim started screaming. "You're hurting me,". There were tears in his eyes.

"Sweetie, sweetheart. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Please, don't cry. I'm Peter, your daddy," Peter tried to comfort him. As soon as Peter touched Jim's hands, he took his dad's hands away.

"Go away. Ouuuch," Jim screamed. He jumped out of the bed and grabbed the curtain.

Sunlight was so bright that it irritated Jim's eyes. He covered his eyes with hands and fell down on the floor. Two doctors and a nurse opened the door to see what's going on.

"Why such a mess, what happened?" one Doctor asked. They all tried to help poor Jim.

"I don't know. I.. I told him I was his dad and suddenly, he started panicking. He fell on the floor, a cause of sunlight, I guess. What's happening to him, Doc?" Peter was shocked. He felt tears flowing down his cheeks.

"He had a mental breakdown," Doctor answered. He adjusted the sheets, so other could put Jim back on the bed. "Please, sir, come with me. And, nurse Bregolli, give some pills to the patient that would let him sleep peacefully,".

Peter followed Doctor, whose name tag was saying "Doc. R. Hernandez".

"What breakdown, Doc?" Peter was confused.

"Our patient is extremely traumatized. Who ever did this to him, he clearly thought one of them was his biological parent. Now, when you told him you were his dad, he had a mental breakdown and thought you hurt him," Doctor Hernandez explained.

Peter nodded but he couldn't forget what he just saw. The feeling was eating him inside.

"I understand but still, doc... It's hard to be just okay with it," Peter said. He heard Jim's crying and screaming from the another side of the door. "But what about his eyes?".

"What about them?" The doctor raised his eyebrow.

"When.. When he jumped up, he was scared of sunlight. He covered up his eyes and fell down,".

"Oh, that. We are sure Jim hasn't seen sunlight for months. Years, maybe. His eyes are still fragile; they got irritated by the bright light,". "Anyway, Sir. You should go home. Have a rest, sleep, eat,".

"What? I just can't go away like this. Not right now,.." Peter's voice was getting angrier.

"Sir, sir... Mr. Taylor! Listen to him. Jim needs to rest. We understand that you don't feel good about this all but there's nothing you can do. Trust me. Go home, take a cold shower and eat. Promise, we are going to take good care of him," Doctor raised his voice over Peter's.

Peter sighed and started to think it, maybe, was the best choice for all of them. Jim needed a rest, so did Peter.